I laughed, but it sounded a little forced. “It’s not so bad,” I said. “Once David gets his powers back and under control, I’m sure having a future-telling boyfie will be the best, plus I get to be a ninja, and that’s always fun—”

Bee reached out and laid a hand on my shoulder. “Harper,” she said, and I recognized her “don’t give me that BS” look. It was something about the way she tilted her head down, making me meet her eyes.

“Okay,” I conceded, crossing one ankle over the other. “It sucks. It sucks a lot. But it’s the way things are, and there’s no way to change it.”

Her hand fell away, fingers playing in the grass between us. “If David did just leave...”

I sat up, looking at her more sharply. “Did he mention that to you, too?”

She didn’t look up, using one nail to split a blade of grass. “A little, but apparently there are wards keeping him here for the time being?” Now she lifted her gaze. “What would happen if he broke them?”

Surprised, I blinked at her. “I... don’t know, honestly. I guess it would hurt him, or do something bad.”

It was a little embarrassing to admit that I knew so little about something so major, but Bee only gave a slight hum and split another piece of grass.

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

I GET THAT most people think that school assemblies are totally boring, and they’re not always wrong—if I never have to sit through another meeting on selling wrapping paper to raise money for the Grove, it will be too soon—but I was actually looking forward to Friday morning’s. Maybe it was because I got to speak before it started, and I always enjoyed things like that, especially now. There was something comfortingly normal about walking up to the podium and speaking confidently to the other students, even if it was only about upcoming service projects and the Spring Fling. It reminded me that there were still things in my life I controlled.

Or maybe I was psyched because I got to talk about the dance. In any case, I sat in the folding chair next to Lucy McCarroll, the sophomore class president. I’d dressed nicely today, wearing a yellow-and-green Lilly Pulitzer dress Mom had gotten for me on a shopping trip to Mobile. Headmaster Dunn made his remarks first, reminding us about upcoming ACT dates and not to leave litter in the parking lot and to remember that “after last year’s unfortunate incident with farm animals in the band room,” senior pranks were expressly forbidden. It may not have been a display of great manners, but I scanned the bleachers in front of us as he droned on. I spotted Bee almost immediately, sitting next to Ryan, and I smiled.